We were supposed to see War Horse and The Artist; then I chickened out due to impending snow and we went closer to home instead catching The Descendants and Chronicle.
Well, this was a nice little movie. I think it takes great skill to have a movie that’s funny, serious, thoughtful and provocative. I think it’s an even greater skill to have one character embody all those things. Descendants is about a family trying to cope with a mother who is in a coma, a mother who had secrets and flaws. It’s a story about forgiveness and revenge, trust and integrity. Clooney’s performance was so well-played. I was able to relate his character in so many ways, in his anger and his love and his need to put things right. And that Shailene Woodley! Where did she come from? The pool scene alone sold that character wholly. I enjoyed it and would support a Best Actor win for Clooney. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
So, what would REALLY happen if (as a teenager) you woke up one with telekinetic powers? Would you don a lycra suit and mask and begin saving the world? Would you have the emotional maturity to even want to do that? These are the questions that surface when three boys find themselves with just such a power. Shot with a “handy-cam” and presented as a “found footage” film, the movie does a great job if splicing in various sources (security cameras, cell phones, police cruisers, etc.) to drive the plot forward without ever becoming the “omniscient eye”. Not since The Blair Witch Project have I enjoyed found footage as much as this (Paranormal Activity comes closes; Cloverfield was awful). A great bar-gument movie! 3 out of 5 stars.
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Afterward, talking about what superpower we'd like (I picked invisibility), I said I sometimes yearned for the Halycon days of youth; he says, "you mean halcyon." And another Magneta Moment is born. You're never too old to learn, poppets!
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